Why would God Die for Me?

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8 NKJV)

The normal answer to that question is that God loves me and that’s why He died for me. But, do I fully understand what that means? He loves me. That’s great. Does He love me like one loves ice cream? I love ice cream yet I don’t eat it everyday. No, He doesn’t love me like ice cream.

I’m not sure I understand how much God loves me. What was His purpose in loving me? He created me knowing that I would love myself much more that I would love Him. Yet, He clearly states that I am to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. But, I love me more. I guess by definition that makes me a sinner. I would need help in order to get me to love God more.

He died for me because in my present state of self-love, I would forever remain ungodly and there is no place in heaven for the ungodly. In my self-righteousness and smug satisfaction of the human goodness of my life, I would be doomed to hell forever. God didn’t want that for me. He wanted me to be with Him in heaven. But, the cost wouldn’t be mine but His. There was nothing good in me that would satisfy Him. Nothing I could do; nothing I sacrifice would suffice God. For I was ungodly and Jesus Christ still died for me. He gave everything just to have me; to have me with Him in His kingdom. He chose me, I didn’t choose Him. He drew me near to Him and revealed Himself to me and beckoned me to come. I understood that I could never be godly on my own.

So, I answered His call and surrendered my life to Him. I was still ungodly in my flesh, but now, I was alive and well in my spirit. As the day goes by, He brings me closer and closer to Him. He leads me to more and more of His grace and mercy. He now has a purpose for my life. A purpose that will bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ. I do these things for Christ not out of my love for reward but out of my love for Christ.

Christ died for the ungodly so that one day the ungodly ones who are born-again, can be godly in the spirit despite still being ungodly in the flesh. The more one lives by the spirit, the more one puts to death the acts of the flesh.

One may never know just how much God loves them until they get to heaven and see Jesus face to face. What an amazing love there is in Jesus.

Christ died for all men and suffered the punishment for everyone knowing full well that most people would reject His sacrifice for redemption. But, He did it anyway! He did it for me. Billions will reject Him and yet He still died for them.

Why did He do it? He did it because He loved me more than I loved myself. I still can’t comprehend it.

Amazing grace… and that’s the word of The Day

Driftwood

We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting; (Eph 4:14)

Chapter 4 of the book of Ephesians, Paul says that we are to walk worthy of the calling with which we were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Yet, there is so much teaching being proclaimed today which is not biblical. The body can easily be deceived into thinking that the “Prosperity” gospel is the right gospel. Or, that travelling to places like Toronto or Pensacola are the thing to do to see and hear the Spirit move.

In Verse 14, Paul tells us not to be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine (in this case, I think he means false doctrine) and wallow in a sea of confusion like a piece of driftwood.

There is a solution. Get into God’s word. Don’t just read or hear it on Sunday but, open it each day and ask God to reveal the great and mighty truth in His Word. When you know the truth, you can better determine when preaching does not line up with the Word. This allows you to stay away from false teaching, false doctrine and false preachers. Get yourself into a bible study. Download the spoken Word to your iPod. Put yourself on a firm foundation. Then when you hear nonsense spoken by men who preach a gospel other that the truth, you can know that you need to stay away from them.

Don’t be Driftwood… And that’s the word of The Day

Think you’re better than a dog?

And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” (Matt 15:27)

It has been said that dog is man’s best friend. When you think about that statement, there is unfortunately some truth in that to the people of the world. Of course, I’m talking about a pet dog and not a wild dog which has a totally different makeup. Let’s take a closer look at the attributes of a loving pet dog, man’s best friend:

• Dogs love us even when nobody else does.
• Dogs forgive and forget much more quickly that man does.
• When we come home late or we do something wrong, they welcome us home without ever asking why.
• Dogs stay close to us even when we don’t feel good about ourselves.
• Dogs don’t care what we look like.

So, my question to you is, “are you better than a dog?” Do you love your neighbor when nobody else does? Do you forgive easily? Do you welcome people no what what they have done? Do you stay close to people even when they don’t feel good about themselves? Do you care what people look like?

Woof! Woof! and that’s the word of The Day

The White-Robed Man

For there is no difference; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness…(Rom 3:22b-25a)

Imagine yourself covered in dirt and grime on your knees deep in garbage and sewage. Your body is covered in chains and your hands and feet are shackled. You're on a wooden dock and you're encircled by people standing about 6 feet from you. Hovering over you is your Dark Slave Owner. He owns you and he is not interested in selling you but he just wants to put you on display. You have spent your whole life under the power of the Dark Slave Owner that you just assume that your life is meant to be this way. You don't even realize that you are covered in filth.

Along comes a Man in a White Robe walking with His Father. The White-Robed Man looks at you and you are drawn to His eyes which seem to say, "I Love you and I have called you to be with Me." But, you don't know what to do. You finally understand that your life is not what it should be and want so much for the White-Robed Man to purchase you and free you from the Dark Slave Owner. You look into the eyes of the White-Robed Man and say, "I'm so sorry. Please. Save Me."

The White-Robed Man turns to His Father and asks, "How much will it cost to purchase him?" His Father says, "The price is very high. He can only be bought with blood." The Dark Slave Owner sneers and hisses as he speaks. "The blood of goats and rams will not suffice."

"He's right", the Father says. "Only Royal blood will purchase the lost. Only Your blood, My Son can purchase his soul." The Father continues, "it will cost You everything, My Son. It will require Your life." The White-Robed Man looks once again at you and with a love you have never known before and with His Eyes still fixed on you, He says to His Father, "I have loved him with an everlasting love. Father, let My blood be shed for his life." Then to you He says, "I Love you" and He spread his arms wide open.

The Dark Slave Owner laughs triumphantly. The White-Robed Man is dead. But, his victory is short-lived for the White-Robed Man has returned and His Precious Blood is the price for your freedom. His blood has washed you clean. You stand up and the chains are loosed. The shackles fall off. The dirt and grime is removed and for the first time in your life, you can walk away from garbage and sewage. The Dark Slave Owner is angry. He has lost you. He can't stand the sight of the White-Robed Man's blood. He was right. The blood of goats and rams would not suffice. But, the blood of the White-Robed Man was everlasting covering the sins of everyone. The price has been paid.

You gets your legs back and you walk, no you run, to the White-Robed Man and wrap your arms around His feet never wanting to let go. He reached down and picks you up. He presents you to His Father and says to His Father, "For this one I have died. For this one, I have given it all." Then the White-Robed Man removes His robe and places it around your shoulders. It is a robe of righteousness. "Father," he says, "welcome your new child." And the Father gladly accepts you as His own.

You reach into the pocket of the robe and there is a piece of paper and on it are all the sins you have committed. Stamped across the paper with the blood of the White-Robed Man are the words "Paid in Full."

Paid in Full and that’s the word of The Day

Tick Tock Three O'Clock

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye. (Ps 32:8)

These days, it is impossible for me to sleep through the night. I wake up around 3 AM and need a quick trip to the bathroom. When I return to bed, my immediate concern is to get back into dreamland.

But, sometimes, the LORD has other ideas. Sometimes, He wants to say something to me and it is hard to sleep when God is talking to you. I ask Him why He doesn’t tell me these things during the day and His Spirit seems to say that I never listen to Him in daylight. At least at 3 AM, He has my attention. So, I listen. Maybe it’s that still small voice deep within my spirit that He stimulates to convey what He wants me to know. But, I’ll lay in bed and listen and unfortunately, argue with Him. Are you sure, LORD? Just don’t argue; just listen. As the psalmist says, God will instruct and teach you in the way you should go.

I need to remember in the future not to fight it. I should just get up and sit down at my desk and start writing down in a journal, these things the LORD is instructing and teaching me in the way I should go.

Tick, tock, it’s three o’clock and that’s the word of The Day.

The First Day

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.  ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.  So the evening and the morning were the first day. (Gen 1:1-5)

The word for day is the Hebrew word “yom”. When it is used in conjunction with a number, in this case the first day (“yom”), it means one 24 hour day. That first day when God created the heavens and the earth from nothing was a literal 24-hour day.

The intent of this blog is to bring glory, honor and praise to Our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I call it “The Day” because this is the day that the LORD has made and we shall rejoice and be glad in it.

Never the Same

 

It was just the other day when my best friend, Michel, came running over to me and told me about this wonderful experience he had. Like other things that have happened around Jerusalem lately, this city has been abuzz about all the events of these last two months since Passover.

I remembered all the commotion concerning this so-called prophet named Jesus and how they had finally called him what he really was – a blasphemer. Imagine the gall of this man to equate himself with the Father in Heaven, the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was right to turn him over to the Romans for crucifixion. He deserved to die. It was better for him to die and take punishment for all of us then for each of us to die instead. I admit it was scary when he died, what will all the earthquakes and the lightning and that terrible darkness. But, it was better that he was gone.

Of course, there were some who believed him to be the Messiah, but we are still under Roman rule. Some of his disciples claimed that he would be resurrected in three days and there was a lot of that talk going around. Imagine that, he was raised from the dead. Yeah, right! Yet, people kept saying it had happened. Even the tomb was empty. I often wondered if they stole his body and moved it just to say it was so.

Now, Michel tells me that the other day, he heard a mighty sound like the rushing of a wind and a fire glow coming from an upper room on a Jerusalem street on the Day of Pentecost. Afterwards, voices coming from the upper room reminded him of a marketplace filled with merchants selling their wares and all speaking loudly at the same time although Michel said they were all speaking in different foreign tongues. He and many around them thought they were drunk but it was too early in the morning. Michel then said that Peter, the leader of the group, spoke to the crowd and from the Holy Scriptures explained what was happening. Quoting the prophet Joel, Peter explained the fulfillment of these scriptures as a result of this Jesus. “People of Israel, listen!”, said Peter, “God publically endorsed Jesus by powerful miracles, wonders and signs through him.” Peter continued, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins!”

Michel said he was pierced through the heart and his eyes were open to the truth that Jesus had died, that He was buried and that now He was raised from the dead according to the scriptures. That Jesus was LORD and Savior of the world. Michel became baptized and he says he now walks in a newness of life as a follower of Jesus. I couldn’t buy any of this. I was appalled and flabbergasted. How could he? How could my best friend forsake the tradition adhered to by the Pharisees and protectors of the Law and follow this man Jesus. I struggled deeply with these new things my friend had said. I’d known Michel my whole life. He was just like me and now he had gone too far. But, maybe there was something to this. I had to search for myself. I had to find out if any of this was real. Could Jesus really be the Messiah?

I went down to the synagogue to search through the sacred scrolls. I opened the scroll of Isaiah and read all about the suffering servant and my heart was skipping beats. Could it be? I decided to go to the synagogue the next day and see if there was anything that could point me to this Jesus. Is He real? Is He alive? I didn’t know what to expect but I couldn’t wait for the day to come.

The next day, as I was walking by the Beautiful Gate, I saw the lame man who was in his normal spot begging. As I approached him, I saw two men and realized that it was Peter and his friend John. I was going to ask them about Jesus but the lame beggar spoke first asking for alms. I’ll never forget what Peter told the lame beggar. He said, “Silver and Gold I do not have but what I do have I give. In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.” This man not only got up, he JUMPED up. It was incredible. The lame beggar was walking, leaping and praising God. As everyone gathered and marveled about what had just happened, Peter again gave the message of repentance, of turning to God and of Jesus being LORD and Savior.

Like my friend, I too was pierced through my heart and my eyes were opened to the truth. The next day, I sat in the council chamber and heard Peter proclaim, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” I couldn’t wait any longer. I repented, turned to God and was baptized and now my life will never be the same. Yes! He is Alive! Yes! Jesus is My LORD and My God. Yes! Jesus is Messiah!